January 11, 2026
Havasu Christian Church
Are you Battle ready?
Ephesians 6:10–20
“Wearing the truth like a belt!”
INTRO: Why do most of us wear a belt? It holds your pants up! For some, like my farmer or construction friends, it’s a handy place to hang the tools I may need. But when we talk about this idea of wearing truth like a belt, we need to think about the question, “What is truth?” This was the question that Pilate asked Jesus as he walked out to tell the crowd he found no guilt in Jesus.
John 18:37–38 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
38 Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”
And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and *said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.
Pilate is not alone. There are many who would argue that there is no such thing as objective truth… “It’s all relative…” But truth IS real. truth is found in many places. But absolute truth comes from God! Without God as a higher authority, there is no basis for right and wrong. There is no basis for morals, there is no basis for the terms “good and bad.” It’s all open to interpretation. That’s how many in our world would like it to be. They believe that there are no moral absolutes…But they are WRONG! Very wrong!
In Ephesians 6:10-20 we see that TRUTH is the first piece of armor we put on. It holds everything else together!
Ephesians 6:10–20 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
We are told, “Gird your loins with truth!”
- What does “gird your loins” actually mean?
- Girding your loins is something we don’t do anymore.
- When men wore long robes, those robes tended to get in the way.
- Ask any woman who’s tried to run or maybe even walk in a floor length dress.
- You can step on the front of the dress and have disastrous consequences.
- Men in a long robe tended to have similar problems.
- So, when working, or running, or fighting, the ends of the robe would be tucked into the belt to hold them up out of the way.
- Obviously, this would be impossible without a belt. It held everything in place.
- Without the belt of truth, the rest of the armor is basically useless.
- You might look scary, but when you step on your robe and fall on your face, it’s going to ruin the rest of your day!
- As Pilate so eloquently asked, “What is truth?”
- This shouldn’t be that complicated…
- Truth is that which is factually accurate.
- Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life!
- There is no deceit in Him.
- He will not lie!
- He cannot lie!
- Jesus is the One who gives us truth!
- He created the Universe and truth is true because He makes it so!
- Truth is the opposite of lies.
- “Truth is always good - even when it is sometimes painful to discover or tell the truth, the ultimate result leads to increased righteousness and trust; falsehood, even when we grow accustomed to it, ultimately destroys.” From: cslewisinstitute.org
- Since it is given through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Scripture is truth!
- Truth is not subject to human opinion!
- There is no such thing as “truth for you” or “truth for me.” Something is either true or it is false!
- Opinions do not create or verify truth.
- Everyone in the entire world believing something would not make it true, if it was not true.
- Everyone in the entire world would simply be deluded!
- Truth is still truth, even if I have no knowledge of it, or don’t understand it.
- According to onthisday.com, the following events took place on January 11th.
- In 630 Conquest of Mecca: Muhammad sets out with an army of 10,000 strong to conquer Mecca
- In 1599 Jacob van Neck's fleet leaves Bantam, Java in modern day Indonesia with 1 million pounds of pepper and cloves and a further half a ship full of nutmeg, mace and cinnamon
- In 1838 First public demonstration of telegraph messages sent using dots and dashes at Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail
- Why is TRUTH so important that it is compared to a belt that holds things together?
- If you believe a lie, it will take you in the wrong direction.
- If I tell you to go south towards Quartzite, so you can get onto I-40, and if you believe me and act on that belief, you won’t be getting to I-40 very soon.
- If I tell you that’s it’s going to be below zero in Havasu this evening, and you go and change clothes to be ready, you’ll be disappointed!
- If I tell you things about what God expects of people, you aren’t likely to get where God wants you to go.
- Everything hinges on the truth.
- We need to know and understand what is true!
- We need to know and understand what is false!
- We need to live our lives based on true principles.
- False assumptions lead to trouble!
- How do I know what to trust?
- Get your information from a trustworthy source!
- I wouldn’t ask a hairdresser to explain molecular biology to me.
- Neither would I ask a molecular biologist what kind of hair style fits my face the best!
- You look for the One who is the expert!
- This brings us full circle to what Jesus told Pilate!
“for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
- Jesus is the Author of truth!
- His Word, the Bible, contains the most important truths that we need to know!
- It doesn’t tell us how to design a house… oh wait, it does! Have a firm foundation!
- Build on the Rock, not on the sand!
- There are plenty of things the Bible doesn’t explain to us, but the crucial things we need to know are right there!
- “How can I lead a life that is pleasing to God?”
- “What is sin?”
- “What does it mean to be redeemed?”
- “How do I follow Jesus and inherit eternal life?”
- “How does Jesus mean for me to live my life?”
- How do I know I’m wearing Truth around my waist?
- Study God’s Word for yourself!
- The teaching that we receive from other people can be VERY important!
- If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.
- I wouldn’t have spent time in Bible College.
- I wouldn’t spend time reading what others have written about Scripture…
- There are plenty of people who claim to be teaching God’s Word, but they are not!
- Don’t put what someone teaches you into practice in your life without checking out what they said first!
- Did what they said come from Scripture?
- Did they use it in context?
- Are they living what they teach?
- When you find someone trustworthy to learn from, Trust but verify!
2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Conclusion: Wrap yourself in truth! Put it on like a belt!
- Work to be able to tell the difference between the truth and a lie.
- Like a bank teller… handle the real thing long enough, and the counterfeit will stand out!
- Love and live the truth, even when it’s painful.
- You’ll be better off in the long run.
- Have trustworthy people in your life who share the truth with you!
- But make sure that they are right…
- Share the truth that you know with others!
- Our world NEEDS the truth of Jesus!
